The Good News Celebration
by xLostInTheSun
Summary: Sometime in April 2011, Amy gets the unexpected pleasure of an impromptu Girls Night at her place. Or, rather, an impromptu Girls Afternoon, because, as she tells Penny and Bernadette, "it's only 3 p.m." - Amy/Penny/Bernadette friendship - Response to The Blanket Hypothesis challenge on fanforum's Shamy thread.


**A/N: Inspired by the promotional pictures for 7x11. In this episode, the character imagine what their lives would be like if they hadn't met Sheldon, and one of the pictures show Amy's couch covered with a blanket that isn't the one she has always had. If in a reality without Sheldon, Amy's blanket isn't the same, it means Sheldon was involved in how she got the blanket. This is my take on things.**

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Growing up, Amy's thirst for a thriving social life had never been satisfied. She had tried and tried, doing everyone's homework, letting them have her lunch, and even accepting the mean nicknames and heartless pranks without a protest. But no matter how hard she had tried, she had never succeeded in connecting with anyone, and she'd lived a life of solitude. And while it had been reluctant at first, as years went by, she'd learnt to enjoy being on her own, to the point where it had become a second nature.

Until she met Sheldon.

He hadn't been the first man she had dated as her mother insisted on her meeting someone at least once a year, but when she first set foot in this coffee shop, almost a year before, she never thought she'd walk out with his contact information. Sheldon simply wasn't like anyone she'd ever met before – if she were to link a resemblance between him and someone else, that person would have to be herself. "By any standard, Amy is more similar to me than anyone I've ever met" he once told his disapproving mother, and Amy had to agree – Sheldon had been the first real friend she ever had, and she now realised it was because he'd been the first one to really understand her.

Having only one friend didn't exactly make a social life thriving, though, and while Amy would have been perfectly content having only Sheldon in her life, he had brought to her the most unexpected of presents – a group of friends.

It was still hard to believe, at times, and more than once during Girls Nights, whether in or out, Penny and Bernadette had asked her if she was alright after she'd let out a short, high yelp. Every time this happened, she would simply smile and answer "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?", and why wouldn't she be indeed? She'd just pinched herself to make sure she wasn't just dreaming, and every time, it turned out that she wasn't, and that Penny and Bernadette were real.

And as months had gone on, she'd grown accustomed to being surrounded by Sheldon's friends. People who had welcomed her and taken her in, as if she was family. People she'd grown to think of as her family. Truth be told, Amy was happier than she'd ever been in her life, and when a knock on her apartment door turned out to be an impromptu visit from both Penny and Bernadette, Amy couldn't stop a big smile to form on her lips.

"Greetings, friends," Amy said, and Penny chuckled softly.

"Hello to you too, Ames," she said, and, motioning towards Amy's front door, she added "May we come in?"

Amy made way for her Bestie and Bernadette, and both of them happily strolled inside. It was the second time they'd come over to her place, but this time, Amy didn't have to work out where to put their coats as April had just begun two weeks ago and this being California, they were only wearing light jackets. She'd been alone for so long she had never needed a coat rack, but she promised herself she would soon get one – the ultimate symbol of her new-found social life.

"Please take a seat," she said, and the two blond women happily complied, sitting on her couch.

"It will have to be tea, today, as I'm afraid I don't have any alcohol to offer," she said. "I am not as well versed in the recreational beverages as you are, Penny."

"I sure hope so," her Bestie replied. "This baby is starting its life with the handicap of having Sheldon as a father, you don't want him to be alcohol damaged either."

_The baby? _What on earth was Penny... Oh. Right. _The baby._

Given how soon after telling Penny about her "pregnancy" Leonard had enquired about it, Sheldon and her had declared their experiment successful the day before over one of their numerous Skype sessions, and Amy had already put it at the back of her mind. Only now was she realising that their friends still had no clue Sheldon and Amy had never even kissed.

(Not that she hadn't been thinking about it a lot these past few weeks, because she _definitely_ had. But _that _wasn't something she was ready to talk about, and especially not to Penny. As much as she loved her Bestie, Amy now had the proof that secrets would never be safe between her big hands.)

Amy fleetingly wondered if she should tell her friends that her virginity was still as intact as always, but she decided against it. Her mother had always made a point of telling her that big revelations could spoil family and friendly gatherings, and when her father had announced he was leaving them to live with his mistress on the evening of Amy's tenth birthday, she'd known that she had been right. She could send them a text in the morning, informing them of their unsolicited involvement in a social experiment, and that would be it. For now, she would play the role of the pregnant friend, and as she doubted she would ever play it one day anyway, it would probably turn out to be an interesting experience.

Smiling to herself, Amy switched on the kettle and grabbed three mugs from her cupboard.

"What kind of tea will you be having?" she asked.

"Lemon for me," Bernadette answered.

"I'm not very good at all that tea stuff, so I'll have whatever you're having, Ames."

Putting a lemon tea bag in one cup and honey and ginger tea bags in the two remaining ones, Amy went on: "Not that I mind your unexpected visit, because it most certainly is an unexpected pleasure, I must confess I am curious as to what prompted you to come to Glendale today."

The kettle started to boil furiously as Bernadette's squeaky voice answered.

"Well, it's been three days since I got engaged and two since you told us about your baby, so we thought it was high time for us to celebrate with a Girls Night."

"It's only 3 p.m.," Amy noted, "and I didn't exactly tell everyone about the baby."

Penny made a face, biting down on her lip and looking awkwardly at the ceiling.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm usually very good at keeping secrets, but this one was too exciting."

Barely containing a snort of derision, Amy smiled. "I suppose it is."

"Think about it," Bernadette added. "The first baby in our little group of friends."

Penny smiled. "Yours probably will follow not long after," she said, and Bernadette grunted.

"God, _no_. I don't want kids. I don't like them very much when they're other people's, but _mine_? Nope, not happening. The only reason I'm accepting of Amy and Sheldon's is that I know I won't dislike it because it's a child – I will dislike it because it's going to be an insufferable genius."

As the mother of the child, Amy felt like it was in her duty to intervene here, take defence of her unborn progeny. But she also didn't want to take the lie that far, and was left wondering what to say. Fortunately for her, the kettle whistled and Penny went on.

"Does Howard know?"

"That I don't want kids? I don't know. I don't think he'd want one, to be honest. He's got too much growing up to do on his own."

Howard and Bernadette _– ah, _they had to be the weirdest couple Amy knew. Not that she knew that many couples, and all things considered, maybe Priya and Leonard were even worse.

Pouring the boiling water in each one of the three cups, Amy went on. "In any case, I must renew my congratulations on your impending nuptials, Bernadette. Have you thought about what kind of wedding you'd like yet."

Bernadette shook her head. "It's a little early for that," she said. "We only got engaged two days ago. His mother doesn't even know yet, and my dad's still furious. Although I'm not quite sure he'll never not be furious."

Ah, overbearing parents. _That _was something Amy could relate to. She would never have said it out loud, of course, because in spite of all her faults, she still loved her mother, but to this day, Amy was still convinced that her mother's ever constant meddling with every single aspect of her life had been a major part in her relational problems with the exterior world.

Then again, without her mother, she would never have met Sheldon. Funny how things worked out.

Balancing the three mugs, a small pitcher of milk, sugar and a few biscuits on a tray she had brought back from her semester in Norway, Amy made her way back to her friends. Sitting on a comfortable chair, she handed Penny and Bernadette their mugs, before taking hers.

"Thanks," they both smiled, and went on to add sugar and milk to their cups – a blasphemy in Amy's opinion, but as she'd been told, being friends with someone also included indulging even their most annoying traits.

"Anyway," Bernadette said after sipping on her tea for a few seconds, "I would like to ask a favor of both of you girls."

Amy and Penny signified that they were listening. "I know that in the grand scheme of things, we haven't known each other for a very long time, but as things stand today, with all this time spent between school and work, you guys are my best friends. And I'd like you both to be my bridesmaids at my wedding."

"Oh my gosh!" Penny gushed. "Of course I will!"

They both hugged, but Amy wasn't seeing them. The thing was – she'd grown to care for all of Sheldon's friends, but she would never have suspected they'd have cared that much about her. That wouldn't have been the first time she would have been the one to love more in a relationship, after all. It had happened to her way too many times in the past, and that was a sting she would never forget. But she'd been given to understand that being a bridesmaid at someone's wedding testified of a deep bond. Cousin Irene had been her only friend, after all, and that had been the only other time she'd been asked to be a bridesmaid.

Long story short, Penny and Bernadette cared about her as much as Amy cared about them. And while Amy had always prided herself on being a woman of science, capable of ruling her own emotions to always keep a clear head, she suddenly felt overwhelmed with such gratitude that she simply couldn't hold back the sob forming in her throat.

"Oh my God, Amy!" Bernadette squeaked as she heard.

Both Penny and her were around Amy in a second, their arms warm around her.

"I had no idea hormones could kick in so early in the pregnancy!" Penny exclaimed, and even through the tears, Amy smiled brighter than she ever had.

"I – I'm not pregnant," she said, deciding that it was time to come clean to her friends, and Penny gasped.

"What?"

"Sheldon and I never had sex," she added, and it was Bernadette's turn to gasp.

"_What?_"

Amy proceeded to explain they had simply wanted to experiment on gossip, and by the end of her sentence, she'd been hit in the arm twice – and with Penny's big hands, she was sure a bruise would form there.

"God, don't we look silly with our present, now!" Bernadette ended up saying, throwing her arms up in the air.

Amy tilted her head to the side, curious, and Penny sighed. She grabbed a big carrier bag Amy hadn't noticed until then and that they'd obviously brought with them, and she gave it to her.

"That was supposed to be your first gift as a future mom, but you might as well still have it," she said, and Amy felt tears come to her eyes once more. She found a weirdly shaped parcel inside, wrapped in an atrociously bright, shiny pink paper – Penny's, without a doubt – and she clumsily opened it, her hands trembling – her first present, that was the first time she'd gotten a present from friends of hers.

It was a blanket.

"Oh," she whispered and a few more tears started pooling in her eyes. At this point truly embarrassed, she furiously rubbed her eyes, and simply whispered "thank you."

A few months before, Amy would have only noted that it was black and dotted with colourful geometrical patterns, but now, the first thing she noticed was that it seemed warm and soft and cuddly, not unlike the now eerily familiar feeling spreading through her chest.

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**A/N: To me, the changing blanket is more of a symbol than anything. Without Sheldon, lots of things wouldn't have happened. The two major ones that come to my mind are Leonard wouldn't have met Penny as Sheldon had the appartment before they even met, and that Howard wouldn't have met Bernadette either. the gang wouldn't be complete, even if the L/H/R would probably still be friends as they met at Caltech, and Penny and Bernadette would still be friends as they met at the Cheesecake factory. The gang wouldn't be complete, but everyone still would have had someone. Except Amy. Because Amy was so alone before she met Sheldon. A lot of people like to rant about how much she changed him, but they don't realise how much he changed her, too. She didn't just find someone who had always been an outsider the way she was - she also found friends, people who "made her feel welcome and took her in like she was family." Without Sheldon, she wouldn't have met the rest of the gang either. Without Sheldon, she wouldn't have had Penny and Bernadette.**


End file.
